Podcasts
‘Cat People’ Explores the Dangerous Allure of Female Sexuality [The Lady Killers Podcast]
“Let me have time. Time to get over that feeling there’s something evil in me.”
Few creatures on earth are so mysterious as the cat. These majestic animals can be alternately cuddly and cruel, often seeming to switch personalities in the blink of an eye. Their larger relatives are equally splendid and it’s no wonder many women take inspiration from their breathtaking looks. Cats possess a strangely seductive control and move through the world with a delicate, yet powerful grace. Jacques Tourneur explores this intoxicating allure in his 1942 film Cat People, a horror classic that may just be the origin of the cinematic lady killer.
Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) is a lonely Serbian immigrant with a talent for art. She’s sketching a panther at the zoo when she meets a handsome man named Oliver (Kent Smith) and invites him home for tea. The two hit it off and quickly marry despite Irena’s fear of her homeland’s folklore. Her village was once home to a clan of mystical women who transform into panthers when experiencing strong emotions. Irena fears these women and is certain that should she become sexually aroused, she will become a panther and rip Oliver to shreds.
In the newest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers Podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams, Rocco Thompson, and Mae Shults are joined by special guest Drusilla Adeline to chat about boat museum seduction, friendly darkness, feline sexuality, and the new type of other woman in Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People. Why does Irena fear sexuality? How does this classic film address female rivalry? Is Dr. Judd (Tom Conway) the worst cinematic therapist of all time and who is the story’s true villain? They’ll answer these questions and more while dissecting the stunning look of this classic horror film.
Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.
Podcasts
Shakespearean Education in the Vincent Price-Starring ‘Theater of Blood’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Butch knows best…
After concluding May with discussions of the disaster “slasher” The Poseidon Adventure (listen) and Michael Biehn’s demon twink in the messy-but-watchable The Fan (listen), we’re heading back to the ’70s to discuss our very first Vincent Price film in Douglas Hickox‘s horror comedy Theater of Blood (1973).
In Theater of Blood, Vincent Price stars as Edward Lionheart, a disgraced Shakespearean actor who begins targeting the critics who shamed him. The gimmick? He’s taking inspiration from the death scenes in William Shakespeare’s plays! Aiding him is his daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg), who acts as the honeypot for her father’s macabre scheme.
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Episode 388: Theater of Blood (1973)
Brush up on your Shakespeare and protect those poodles because we’re covering our very first Vincent Price film in Douglas Hickox’s horror comedy Theater of Blood (1973), a personal favorite of both Price and Diana Rigg.
Join us as we go all in on this somewhat episodic (but also educational!) proto-slasher, wondering if we’re supposed to know that’s Diana Rigg in hippie drag, and cackling at some of these murder set pieces.
Plus, “Handsy Dickman,” narcissistic gravestones, antisemitic stage makeup, and the ultimate debate: is it theatER or theatRE?
C/W: Attempted suicide, off-screen dog murder.
Cross out Theater of Blood!
Coming Up Next: We’re celebrating the premiere of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat with a look at the much-maligned 2002 adaptation Queen of the Damned!
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